as I wander...spiritual and emotional wondering from a contemporary corporate pilgrim

Yesterday I sat all comfy and content in the home of a friend - doing what I love most, enjoying the company of women. As we became acquainted we all realized we all had one thing in common. Each of us had experienced the trials and adventures of moving.

Recently I wrote that my life in the garden I have tended for many years is changing. I am being called to tend many gardens and as I travel from plot to plot I find myself wandering into the jungle. Of course my journey is physical, but it is the spiritual and emotional wandering that threatens to undo me!

I don't know about you, but a move turns me upside down. The storm clouds gather and I brace myself for a flood. The flood of tears threatends to drown me even before another flood crashes donw on me. This flood will swoop up all my possessions and carry them along, dumping them and landing them onto foreign soil. I have stood helpless with no where to turn as the "waters" rise. My swirling emotions threaten to sweep me off my feet and carry me away, out of control. Neither pumps nor sand bags can save me. The damn has broken. In no time I know I will find myself overwhelmed, tattered, exhausted, and lost. I try not to be afraid. I know God is with me.

All I ever needed to know about moving I learned from Moses and the band of pilgrims he lead through the Sinai Desert. It may seem unusual that a modern-day corporate move would have any relationship to the grand exodus, but the second book in the Bible has many life applications for us today. It has been said that no one stands still. "You are either moving forward or backward." Every Christian is on the move. Whether planning a corporate relocation, a new mission assignment, or a military deployment. experiencing emotional stagnation or spiritual growth, each one of us is on the move. We are headed toward the "Promised Land." Many will arrive through a direct route. Some will get sidetracked and wander for a lifetime.

For now I am going to keep my eyes focused on the "Promised Land." I want to to take the most direct route. I want to travel through as many gardens as possible. I pray I don't end up lost in a jungle or wandering for 40 years in a desert of my own making!

in Him we live, and move, and have our being. Acts 17:28